Painted Dresser Using Milk Paint

This is a project that I’m excited to share with you. I found this great product awhile ago that I’ve now used on two projects in my house.

Milk paint.

Have you heard of it? At first, I felt super intimidated, but after I tried it and found out how easy it was to use, I was hooked.

The paint comes in a limited number of colors, but if you don’t find one you like, you can create your own by mixing them. The colors are beautiful with a rich opaque look.

It is available at some retailers, but I was able to order it online through Miss Mustard Seed’s. This link will provide you with all of the information you need and the available colors.

The project I undertook with the milk paint was a dresser.

I actually bought this dresser to make into a sink vanity for our basement. Due to plumbing issues, we were not able to use it and instead we had to use another piece in our home. You can read about that here.

I decided I wanted to use this dresser in our office. The drawers will help with additional storage and it fits nicely with our decor, but just needed an update. Oak reigns supreme in that room and I am trying to slowly eradicate it from our home.

With this paint, you can achieve several different looks. It is designed to chip off and give you that distressed chippy look once dry.

If you do not like that look and are going for a clean finished look, you can buy a bonding agent through the company website and mix that in with your paint. This will prevent the paint from chipping off and give you the look you want.

I like the chippy look, so I did not add a bonding agent.

The color we went with is called Linen. Here are the supplies I needed for this project.

Here is how the process works.

1. Begin by removing drawers and hardware. Then wipe down the surface of the dresser to get rid of the dust and dirt. You do not need to prime the piece if you are ok with the color of the piece showing through on the distressed parts. If you’d want something darker showing through, then you could stain it first.

2. Next, the paint comes in a powder pouch and you mix it with water using your blender.

3. It drys quickly so be ready to roll when you are done mixing your paint.

As you can see, my girls even got in on the action. The best part of this paint is that it gives thorough coverage fast and you really can’t mess it up too bad.

4. After the first coat, let it dry for 30 minutes. That’s all! Do not let it sit longer or it will begin to chip. You want to get that second coat on before the chipping begins. Apply a second coat and let it dry for another 30 minutes. If you are happy with the coverage then you do not need to apply a third coat. It’s up to you.

5. You will then begin to see the paint chipping in certain areas. Take a low-grade sandpaper and sand off the chippy paint. This can be a bit messy with flakes going everywhere.

Here’s how it will look.

6. Finally, put a couple of coats of polyurethane (I used clear gloss) to seal the piece and prevent any more chipping. Let rest for several hours and then you can put your hardware back on.

The top panel actually chipped a little more than I would like, so I may sand it and redo. You can’t really go wrong, that’s why this project is one of my favorites. If you mess up, it either looks like it’s supposed to be that way, or you can just add another coat of paint.

Here it is in its new place in our office.

What do you think?

The other project I did was this summer, so I do not have any before pictures of the piece. We bought this vanity at a local second-hand store for under $100 dollars. It was a quality wood piece, but the finish was a mess. Olivia wanted this for her bedroom as a place to get ready in the morning. For this piece, we chose a beautiful turquoise milk paint. Here is the result.

I absolutely love it.

If you’ve never used milk paint, it is a very fun and versatile product. Give it a try!

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